It is commonly accepted that the South could never have won the Civil War. By chronicling perhaps the best of the South’s limited opportunities to turn the tide, this provocative study argues that Confederate victory was indeed possible. On June 30, 1862, at a small Virginia crossroads known as Glendale, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee sliced the retreating Army of the Potomac in two and came remarkably close to destroying their Federal foe. Only a string of command miscues on the part of the Confederates—and a stunning command failure by Stonewall Jackson—enabled the Union army to escape a defeat that day, one that may well have vaulted the South to its independence. Never before or after would the Confederacy come as close to transforming American history as it did at the Battle of Glendale.

Jim Stempel is an authority of the Eastern campaigns of the American Civil War. His articles on psychology, human development, and warfare have also appeared in the New Times, Concepts In Human Development, and North & South. He lives in western Maryland.

Jim Stempel
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 222
Bibliographic Info: 16 photos, 5 maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6300-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8560-4
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Prologue      5

1. The Mosquito Fleet      13
2. A Close One, Sir      20
3. We Are About to Build a Large Number of Gun Boats      26
4. When Fought as Gallantly as That      34
5. For Want of This Iron Our Work Has Been Going Backward      41
6. Wrong Wharf, Wrong Boat      47
7. In High Favor      53
8. In a Cornfield at Edward’s Ferry      60
9. A Presidential Compliment      65
10. Magnificent, Grim, Irresistible      70
11. The Good Ship Albemarle      79
12. Shokokon to Monticello      85
13. Winter Offensive      91
14. The Essence of Impudence      96
15. All Ahead, Full      102
16. Plymouth Is Ours      108
17. Heaven Has Crowned Our Efforts with Success      114
18. A Terrific Grand Waltz      119
19. Four Miles from Wilmington      127
20. Captain Cushing’s Exploits in the Cape Fear River      134
21. Captain Cooke      140
22. David against Goliath      147
23. To Prevent an Impending Calamity      151
24. Send the Boats On      156
25. I Have Undertaken a Great Project      160
26. You Must Not Hope to Return      166
27. Pick Your Men      170
28. An Example of Coolness and Skill      176
29. The Fixed Determination to Escape      182
30. No More Gallant Thing      188
31. Dead Gone Sunk      193
32. It Is Done      198
33. Cheer Ship      202
34. Thanks of Congress      207
35. The Cost of the Nation’s Unity      211
36. Blind to the Facts      218

Epilogue      225
Chapter Notes      227
Bibliography      237
Index      239